Lawmakers vote to go put electoral college vote in sync with the popular vote

Legislation that seeks to short-circuit the Electoral College system and put in place a national popular vote to elect the president of the United States is now heading for the governor’s desk.

The Assembly voted 44-25 shortly after noon today to approve the bill, which was inspired by a Stanford University professor’s proposal.

The legislation calls for an interstate compact that would require participating states to cast their entire slate of electoral college votes in support of the winner of the national popular vote even if another candidate actually wins in that state. The plan could kick in with as little as 11 states if the biggest ones join since they would represent the majority of the electoral votes.

Proponents say such a measure is necessary because it would avoid situations like 2000 when George Bush was declared the winner even though Al Gore received more popular votes. Also, they argue the current system has resulted in presidential candidates focusing their campaigns only in a handful of battleground states, which does not include Democrat-heavy California.

Opponents argue that the proposal will simply result in presidential candidates ignoring sparsely populated rural regions and focusing their energy on big urban centers like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco